Another good idea to bring the casual fan in to boost ratings. Sting vs. Flair is always fun. It makes it even more fun when you have a super surprise appearance from Lex Luger who was at SummerSlam a week before and is now showing up on Nitro in the aisleway! OH SNAP! Anyways, all he does is make an appearance as the match gets underway, but that’s all he needed to do. Bischoff tries his best to sell it like he still works for those “other guys”. From the bell, Flair runs the ropes while Sting does a bunch of leapfrogs to build into a press slam. Just like old times. Sting gives him another press slam. A hiptoss out of the corner sets up a dropkick and Flair’s on the floor taking a count. Back in, Flair goes to the eyes and starts chopping. VINTAGE NATURE BOY~! Darn you, Bischoff. Sting starts NO-SELLING Flair’s blows and gives him another press slam. They do the crossbody over the top rope spot that causes them both to spill out to the floor. Flair thumbs Sting in the eye and charges at him only to take another military press. Sting tosses him back in the ring where Flair begs off. Flair avoids the Stinger Splash, but Sting braced himself before any harm was done. Face slam to Flair! Sting runs into an elbow out of the corner and that puts Sting on the mat. Commercial break! Flair’s still in control when he come back. Well, very temporarily as we see Sting slam Flair off the top rope. Cue Arn Anderson. Sting misses a flying splash, but NO-SELLS a suplex! Flair gets whipped into the corner for the Flair Flip and a clothesline on the apron. Ten-count corner punch? You got it. A battle up in the corner goes nowhere. Back on the mat, they go into a headscissors-backslide sequence for two. Arn’s still hanging around ringside. Sting delivers a superplex and then spots Arn Anderson. Flair uses that distraction to chopblock Sting for the FIGURE-FOUR! Flair grabs the ropes for leverage and won’t let go at the five-count. Arn Anderson has enough of that and jumps into the ring and breaks up the hold. Sting wins by DQ. (8:43) Arn takes off his wind breaker so he can get real loose to beat the holy crap out of Flair. Remember, this is during that great angle where Arn had had enough of helping out Flair for all those years and getting nothing in return for it. **¾

Madusa trashed the WWF Women’s Championship: From 12/18/95. Just before anything can happen, ALUNDRA BLAYZE comes up behind the announce table and proclaims that she is Madusa and always has been as far as she is concerned. She brings up the WWF Women’s title and drops it in the trash can. Well as far as Vince is concerned, Madusa can consider herself BLAACKBALLLED! Heenan’s blank stare as he slowly turns his head to the camera is priceless. Mongo says he’s tired of wrestlers coming up behind him, so he brings in William Perry to watch over his…backside? I think this Madusa thing insulted Vince McMahon more than it made a buzz in the wrestling interweb world – mainly because it wasn’t very creative and simply done for *shock* value.

Hulk Hogan vs. Arn Anderson (w/Woman) – 2/12/96

Oh snap, we see a “Bischoff is Satan” sign right at the bell. I just now noticed that. Hogan NO-SELLS everything Arn tries and dishes out his usual offense. Arn tries to sucker Hogan out on the floor for a piledriver, but Hogan counters and catapults Arn into the ringpost. Hogan takes off his eye bandage, which becomes important as the match progresses. Back inside, it’s more of the same with Hogan up to his usual tactics like choking, back rakes, and clotheslines. Arn finally gets a break as he catches Hogan with a back elbow RIGHT IN HIS EYE. And it begins. Here comes Ric Flair and Elizabeth to cheer on AA. Arn nails Hogan with a Spinebuster. This time Hogan sells it! Yes! Cover, 1-2-NO! Hogan presses Arn off him and begins to HULK UP! Three punches and the Big Boot follows. Hogan spots Flair and instead of hitting the Legdrop, he struts around and slaps on the figure-four on Arn! Flair runs in to stop it and gets cradled up by Hogan. WHAT. Hogan releases the hold and punches Flair out of the ring. Meanwhile, Woman has some powder in her hands. BAM! She throws a handful right in Hulk’s open wound! Of course the ref misses ALL of this and doesn’t suspect a thing when there’s powder still in the air. While ref Nick Patrick admonishes Woman, Flair hands Arn Liz’s shoe to KO Hogan again. It worked for Flair and it works for Arn as he gets the 1-2-3! YES! (9:16) All these years of Hogan destroying everybody, and all they needed to do was blast him in the eye with a high-heel shoe. **

Afterwards, Randy Savage runs down to clear the ring of the Horsemen. Okerlund gets in the ring with the Mega Powers for an interview while Flair and Arn head over to the announce table. Flair rips off Bischoff’s headset and brags about destroying Hulkamania AGAIN. Arn says he beat Hogan once, and he can do it again. That’s when the Mega Powers give up on their in-ring interview and chase the Horsemen and Bobby Heenan away from the announce table. Hogan accepts the rematch with Arn while Savage can’t wait for his title rematch with Flair next week.

The Road Warriors vs. Rick & Scott Steiner – 3/11/96

It was supposed to be LOD vs. the Nasty Boys, but somebody took care of the Nasties in the back. And to my surprise, the FN STEINER BROTHERS make their long-awaited return to WCW on Harley Davidson motorcycles! This is a dream match that never really got its due attention in 1989 when it should have been the biggest thing to hit tag team wrestling. Instead, the Road Warriors were in a feud with the Skyscrapers and the Steiners feuding with Doom. Ever since then, they were never really in the same promotion to make this happen, so this was certainly the best way to bring the Steiners back into WCW. Scott and Hawk start the match with neither man giving an inch. Hawk powers Scott around with a hiptoss and some chops to the chest. Scott blocks a second hiptoss with a sweet belly to belly suplex. He gives Hawk a pumphandle slam and looks over at Animal to give him the universal ‘up yours’ sign. Hawk headbutts Scott away to avoid a Belly to Belly Superplex and delivers a Flying Clothesline. Hawk hits a reverse neckbreaker, but then he ducks low off a whip and takes a double underhook slam. Tag to Rick, who starts barking. Hawk doesn’t know what to think about that and tags in Animal. Animal catches Rick with a powerslam and a dropkick. Off a whip reversal, it takes TWO Steinerlines to take Animal off his feet. He follows up with a NICE release German suplex on Animal. Geez, Rick gives Animal a Belly-to-Belly Superplex and tags Scott for an Overhead Belly to Belly Suplex on Animal! The Steiners maintain control of Animal as Scott sits down on a rear chinlock, which is reminiscent of his future finisher: The Steiner Recliner. Hawk breaks that up with a kick to the head. Still no tag though. Scott looks like he whiffs on a dropkick to Animal, who sells it anyway for a two-count. Double-KO spot sets up a HOT TAG to Hawk! He gets rid of Scott and prepares Rick for the DOOMSDAY DEVICE! Yes! Scott breaks up the pin at two. He takes Animal to the floor to whip him in the guardrail. Now they can give Hawk the STEINER BULLDOG, but Animal still manages to stop it. Scott still hits Hawk with a flying clothesline, but then he turns around and takes one from Animal! Everybody’s down! Scott gives Animal the FRANKENSTEINER for 1-2-NO! Animal gets dumped again. The Steiners follow through with the STEINER BULLDOG on Hawk. As soon as Rick stands back up though, Animal hits him from the apron with one of his spiked wristbands. Oh snap. Hawk covers Rick and gets 1-2-3. (10:10) Odd to see a returning team lose. Regardless, this is one of the better tag matches we’ve seen on Nitro. Kudos to Animal for taking and SELLING all those suplexes. ***¼

Dean Malenko vs. Jushin “Thunder” Liger (w/Sonny Oono) – 5/6/96

Bischoff makes mention that Shinjiro Ohtani is the NEW WCW world cruiserweight champ and will be facing Dean Malenko in a few weeks. That title change actually airs on the May 18 episode of Worldwide and I’ll do a review of it in the Slamboree review. They do a nice wristlock exchange to start. Liger avoids a monkey flip and levels Malenko with an enziguri to take him out to the floor. Meanwhile, a decked out Ric Flair and his ladies head out and over to their VIP table paid for with Randy Savage’s money. Ha! Over in the ring while everybody pays attention to Flair, Liger hits Malenko with a somersault senton and a BRAINBUSTER for 1-2-NO! Liger begins to stretch out Malenko as we go to break. Geez, Flair AND a commercial break! When we return, we take another thirty-second look at what Flair’s doing. Back in the ring, Malenko slaps a leglock on Liger. He comes back with a handspring back elbow and a Koppou Kick in the corner. Malenko blocks a superplex, but takes a dropkick out to the floor as Liger dives out on top of him. Back inside, Malenko catches a handspring into a rollup sequence. Deano stops Liger up top and gives him a Flying Gutbuster! Don’t remember seeing him do that to anybody else on Nitro yet. Liger counters a powerbomb into a pinning situation for two. Liger flips out of a suplex, but gets nailed with a Tiger Driver for the 1-2-3. (6:51 shown) Oh yes, the Cruiserweight division is coming. This one had a little psychology problems concerning the leg work, but I think they just wanted to cram as much cool Liger stuff as they could here. **½

Juvi counters a modified surfboard with a DDT as Tony says that Ted DiBiase changed his demands in order to compete in Wargames saying if his team won, the nWo would get their own TV program. Anyways, Juventud and Rey go back and forth. Juvi takes a backdrop to the apron and attempts a springboard to get back inside, but he flies into a dropkick! That causes Juventud to roll out as Rey follows him with a springboard into a flying headscissors! Insanity. We go to commercial? AND WE’RE BACK! Juventud is in control with a springboard spinning heel kick. That puts Rey on the floor for an Asai Moonsault. Back inside, Juvi attempts a springboard 450 splash and hits about 30% of it. That gets two. He follows up with the Spinning Hurracanrana off the top for 1-2-NO! Out in the parking lot, the nWo fans are celebrating the Wargames victory. No actual new World order members are out there though. Back in the ring where the real excitement is happening, Juventud attempts a SUPER POWERBOMB, but Rey counters it into a hurracanrana for the easy 1-2-3. (6:54 shown) THE coolest finish seen on Nitro to date. It could have been better had there not been so many distractions – a commercial break and cutting out to the freaking parking lot. ***

Eric Bischoff’s Biggest Regret: From 9/30/96. We go over to Eric Bischoff for an apology on what happened last week when the new World order hijacked Nitro when all the good guys were gone to Japan. This nWo thing has GOT TO STOP! He again confesses his one and only mistake while he’s been with WCW – bringing in Hulk Hogan.

Since Luger and AA went to a double countout, the winner of this match goes to the finals at Starrcade on a bye to face the winner of Eddie Guerrero vs. Chris Benoit. When you look at this match and have the luxury of foresight, it’s interesting to realize what became the main event years down the road. Feeling out and strutting occurs as we go to break. AND WE’RE BACK! Page hits a back suplex and a tilt-a-whirl sideslam for two. Jarrett comes back with an enziguri and nails DDP with a swinging neckbreaker to regain control. Bossman straddle connects. Jarrett delivers a slingshot suplex and follows up with the Memphis flying fist drop. Page fires back, but telegraphs a backdrop and takes a faceslam. Page fights out of a sleeper and drills Jarrett with the discus clothesline. Flying lariat gets 1-2-NO! Page misses a charge and falls to the floor. Meanwhile, Scott Hall and Kevin Nash head out to distract the ref and Jeff Jarrett as Hall gives him the OUTSIDERS EDGE off the middle rope. Once Hall and Nash clear out, DDP slides back into the ring and lays on top of Jarrett for the 1-2-3. (9:44 shown) An odd match as Tony and Bobby are pushing DDP as a low down scum heel, but Jarrett controls the majority of the match to set up the comeback, but then again they were prepping Page for his face turn by now anyways. Still felt a little odd though. Gene Okerlund meets DDP in the ring and asks him to explain what happened. He compares the nWo to a chick who won’t stop calling – he just wants to be left alone. **¼

Kevin Nash patches up potholes: From 4/21/97. Out comes Kevin Nash, Syxx, and a couple other extra nWo members. Syxx calls out Ric Flair for stealing everything from Buddy Rogers. Not sure that exactly makes sense considering the new World order are supposed to hate everything old. Syxx, you just went BACK a generation BEHIND Ric Flair, my friend. Anyways, Kevin Nash gets on the stick and helps get us back on track. He brings up Roddy Piper mentioning last week how he was laying down asphalt and cutting down trees for the next generation dating back over ten years ago. Nash claims that all Piper and the rest of the 1980s big shots left were potholes. When he left WCW and went to the WWF, all there was to do up there was get the business out of the funk that guys like Roddy Piper and Ric Flair left it in. Nash says that he and his boys have no problem flying commercial or piling three people in a rented Ford Taurus. What they are gonna do is kick back, drink a 40 ounce, and fill the potholes guys like Flair and Piper left behind. Although this appears to be a worked shoot, I’m pretty sure Nash just made blue collar heroes out of these guys.

Hollywood Hogan makes Sting worship him: From 5/26/97. Now here’s the REAL main event! It’s Hollywood Hogan and Eric Bischoff. One more time, they ask for Sting. A fake Sting pops up from under the ring to grovel at Hogan’s feet. He even praises Hogan’s spit. While this whole absurdity is happening, Sting descends from the ceiling right into the ring behind Hogan and Bischoff. Sting grabs Bischoff and takes him out with the SCORPION DEATHDROP. Now what about Hogan? With the fake Sting still down on his knees, the real Sting backs Hogan over him as Hulk finds solace on the floor. Now Sting blocks a swing of the bat from the fake Sting and hits him in the ribs. SCORPION DEATHDROP. As the wig starts to come off a little bit, the fake Sting appears to be Buff Bagwell. As Hogan watches on from safer ground, the rest of the nWo come down the ramp to back him up. They surround the ring and just as they make it inside, Sting reattaches himself to the cable and heads back into the rafters! Only in WCW.

Ric Flair vs. Scott Hall (w/Syxx) – 6/2/97

It’s a main event anywhere in the world, folks! Flair is all jabs and chops to start. WOO! Syxx tries to jack him from the apron, but Flair jacks him instead. Back to Hall, the Flair Flip sends him running down the apron on top of Syxx. A short-sighted plan indeed. Hall punches Flair back inside and stomps him in the corner. While Hall pulls the ref away, Syxx runs in and gives Flair the Bronco Buster. Fallaway Slam gets two. Crowd wants Sting. Hall grabs an ab stretch and gains some leverage from Syxx, but the ref catches them cheating and Flair hiptosses Hall away. Hall lays in on Flair with quick jabs, but he takes the punches and fires back with chops. Flair escapes a sleeper with a shinbreaker, but he’s too exhausted to capitalize. He gives Hall a running chop and follows up with an inverted atomic drop. Syxx takes a forearm off the apron. Syxx climbs up top, but gets caught by Flair. He grabs Hall and whips him into Syxx to send him crashing to the floor. Now Syxx tries to attack Flair with a title belt. That fails and Flair gets a hold of him, but Hall nails Flair with the belt and the ref calls for the DQ. (7:50) That’s the thing about DQ’s in WCW. If the face is handling the interference, then it’s no problem. Once that babyface gets wiped out, call for the bell. The 2-on-1 beatdown continues until Mongo and Jeff Jarrett run down for the save. Oh that’s right! The Four Horsemen still exists. ¾*

Final Thoughts: This is shaping up to be a superior set over the first one. Time will tell though as we move onto discs two and three.